The present invention relates generally to dispensing and vending equipment, and more particularly to equipment of this sort which utilizes selector buttons mounted in the equipment and arranged to be moved by a user in selecting the product to be disbursed or vended.
Manufacturers of dispensing and vending equipment usually make such equipment for a number of different customers, each of which has its own specifications for certain aspects of the equipment. However, manufacturing economy requires that the equipment for each customer be made with as little variation as possible in manufacturing and assembly procedures so as to eliminate as much customizing expenses as possible, and in some instances these competing interests are difficult to reconcile.
For example, manufacturers of gasoline dispensing pumps which are ultimately placed at service stations and the like generally make such pumps for a number of different oil and petroleum companies, many of which dispense different grades of gasolines. Thus, one such customer may require a gasoline dispensing station which pumps five different grades of gasoline from the same dispensing station, while another customer may pump only three or less different grades from the same dispensing station.
Heretofore, such gasoline dispensing stations, while having many components in common, generally require that the manufacturer customize at least the part of the gasoline dispensing station which includes the selector buttons which are to be pressed by the ultimate customer (e.g., the motorist purchasing the gasoline) so that the number and location of the selector buttons would meet the individual requirements for a particular gasoline dispensing station. This customization is relatively expensive in that it requires the switch plate for a particular dispensing station to be individually manufactured and installed in the dispensing station, and each selector button is then individually mounted at particular locations on the switch plate as specified by the customer using a large number of screws, bolts, and similar attachment devices that are installed utilizing conventional and generally tedious manual installation techniques, all of which significantly increases the costs of manufacture of the dispensing stations.
Additionally, each location at which a selector button is installed requires a number of slots for receiving the aforesaid screws, bolts, and the like, and more importantly, slots are formed in the switch plate to accommodate the movement of the selector button when it is pressed by the motorist, and conventional selector buttons are arranged in the switch plate so that they seal these slots only when the selector buttons are in their normal open position from which they are pressed by the motorists. Therefore, if the selector buttons are pressed when there is significant moisture from rainfall and the like, water frequently passes through the slots and into the space behind the switch plate where a variety of electrical components are located to thereby create a potentially hazardous situation for the motorists. Heretofore, the only solution to this problem has been to provide a trough for collecting and channeling away any water that passes through the slots and openings in the switch plate, which has not proved to be a very effective solution to a serious problem.
Finally, conventional selector buttons are designed to close a conventional mechanical/electrical switch when it is pushed to its innermost position by the motorist, and these selector buttons are frequently abused, either intentionally or accidentally, by motorist who push the selector button inwardly with too much force, which often results in the selector switch sticking in its innermost position, in which case the entire dispensing station is out of commission until a repairman can correct the problem. Experience has shown that this abuse of the selector switch is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, maintenance problems associated with gasoline dispensing stations.